


Coxluccy and Buulgons

by Khaelis



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 13:42:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9900644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khaelis/pseuds/Khaelis
Summary: Rose has always been thoughtful when it comes to her Doctor. That's why she ends up making a cake for his birthday.Mind the alien fruits, though.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to keep this funny and fluffy, must my angst addiction came back towards the end.
> 
> There's still a happy ending, of course!
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you'll like it, and thanks to all the readers who leave kudos and comments on my works, it's greatly appreciated!

Rose ambled happily through the corridors of the Tardis and ended up in the console room where the Doctor was tinkering as always. His head was deep under the console and Rose giggled as she stared at his butt sticking up proudly in the air.

 

“Well, hello there,” she slurred, almost tripping on a cable as her eyes zeroed on his perfect bum.

 

The Doctor hissed in pain and winced when his head hit the underside of the console, thwarted by the unexpected sound of her voice. She was supposed to be sleeping, not disturbing him in the middle of his extremely important and life-saving… Stuff he needed to do. He got to his feet and tucked a temple of his square glasses in his shirt as Rose slowly walked towards him with an awkward and unnatural sway to her hips.

 

“What are you doing up, love?” he asked all while eying her with a concerned look.

 

She stopped dead in her tracks as she crunched her nose and furrowed her brow. She scratched the back of her head, looked around, looked at him. Her wide open mouth closed, then opened again.

 

“I can’t remember,” she shrugged with a grin.

 

She magnificently failed to kiss him – she had aimed for his mouth but her teetering made her fall to his right and he had to catch her by the waist to avoid her crashing her skull against the console. She beamed at him and a giggle escaped her lips, even though she tried to hide it covering her mouth.

 

“Rose Tyler, are you drunk?” the Doctor asked with a frown.

 

He tried to pick a smell of any alcoholic beverage but there wasn’t any. She rocked on the ball of her feet and shook her head forcefully, which caused her to take a few steps backwards – and the Doctor had to grab her sleeves and pull her back to him again.

 

“Of course I’m not drunk,” she smiled, tongue between her teeth. “Well, maybe I am, ‘cause I feel funny. Like I’m drunk. Only I’m not. Oh wait, yes I am. I am, aren’t I?”

“Gods, Rose, what have you been doing?” he asked, careful to keep a hold on her in case she wavered on her feet again.

“Oh, a riddle, I love riddles, riddles are awesome,” she said excitedly, tapping her palms against his chest. “I was… Hum, I don’t know, wishing for something?”

“Wishing?” he repeated with a lifted eyebrow.

 

He watched as she looked up to the ceiling and made weird noises with her mouth, as if she was trying very hard to remember. Maybe she had hit her head?

The Doctor carefully examined her head, probing through the blond locks to find any sign of injury, but there was none. It was both a relief and a serious cause to worry. Never before had Rose acted this strange and disinhibited, and anxiety gnawed at his insides when he noticed how glassy her usually bright honey eyes looked. She could be sick. He had made sure that there were no virus or bacteria that could cause them unwanted reactions the last time they had landed on a yet unexplored planet. Something was definitely wrong.

 

“There were candles,” she said slowly, deep in her toughts. “White candles. Like, you know when in Pinocchio the old man wishes for a little boy at his window? Except I’m not sure there’s a candle in this scene. Still, wishing counts, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does,” he nodded all while directing her toward the infirmary.

“Oh, brilliant me!” she exclaimed with a broad smile. “Do I get to pinch your sexy bum then? You know, reward and all? ‘Cause your bum has to be the best looking-bum in this world.”

“Not just now,” he answered, torn between his growing worry and the desire to blush.

“Oh… That’s because the answer wasn’t actually wishing, isn’t it?” she pouted in disappointment, walking away from him to face a wall, arms crossed over her chest.

 

The Doctor ran his hand over his face and sighed heavily. It wasn’t going to be easy. He tried his best to take her by the hand but she hushed him away with a scoff.

 

“Rose, sweetheart, I think you might be sick,” he explained, tentatively reaching for her hand again. “Come with me, please?”

“Oh, poor Doctor... I’m so sorry you got sick on your birthday,” she said in a whisper, tears pearling at the corner of her eyes. “You going to be okay?”

 

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer when he realized what she had said. His brilliant mind, too preoccupied by Rose’s health, took a bit longer than necessary to reorganize the two-piece puzzle. Birthday. Candles. _Bloody hell_ … It was _his_ birthday. She must have wanted to make a cake. With what was in the fridge. He froze when he remembered what he had stored in the fridge the day before. Coxluccian fruits.

Rose drew him into a tight hug when she noticed – well, more imagined, really – his sad face and rubbed his back with her knuckles.

 

“It’s okay, darling,” she whispered softly in his ears, voice full of tears. “We can save the cake for later, yeah?”

“Of course, yes,” he nodded, and that instantly brought back a smile on her face.

 

She gave him a gleeful laugh and kissed him fully on the lips, and it confirmed what he feared. She had eaten a piece of that fruit. She wasn’t drunk, then. She was just high. Very, very high. There was nothing he could do except wait for the potent drug to leave her system, which should take a few hours. Apart from that, she would be just fine.

Rose suddenly tugged on his jacket, wide eyes staring at the top of his head and an index across her lips.

 

“Sshh,” she shushed him, placing one of her palm across his mouth. “Don’t wake the birdies sleeping in your hair.”

 

He didn’t know if it was his relief to know that his beloved Rose was safe from any harm or the look of absolute wonder that shone in her eyes, but his face broke into a smile before inevitable laughter rang throughout the corridor.

 

“No,” Rose lamented as her eyes followed the path of the imaginary birds around them. “Well done, they’re gone, now.”

“It’s okay, I know where they went, we’ll catch up with them later, okay?” he said with a grin, rolling an arm around her shoulders. “How about we go to bed, hm?”

“But we can’t,” she whispered close to his ear. “Look, the monster’s keeping the door. I don’t know the spell to make it go away.”

 

The Doctor glanced at the door, but quite predictably there was no _monster_ to be seen. He patted Rose’s arm with a face as serious as he could muster and stood before her protectively, thinking it might be best to role-play a little not to spark any unwanted reaction from her. She seemed fine enough for now – apart from the hallucinations, obviously – but he knew this fruit could cause much more unpredictable behaviours when eaten by humans.

 

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he whispered back. “I know one.”

 

He cleared his throat and came up with a few French words he was sure she couldn’t understand and hopefully would think were some kind of incantation to chase the monster away.

 

“Hum, _que les flammes jaillissent du sol_ ,” he started as he theatrically spread his arms. “ _Que brûle cette infâme bestiole, que cette bête immonde succombe et disparaisse de ce monde._ ”

 

Rose snuggled closer behind his back and carefully bent on the side to check if the monster was gone for good. The Doctor gave her a side glance, unsure if this little trick had the effect it was supposed to have.

 

“Oh my God, it worked,” she breathed out in relief. “You did it, Doctor. I knew you were a wizard.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” he winked at her, entwining his fingers with hers. “Now, bed?”

“Okay, yes,” she nodded eagerly.

 

They had almost reached the door when Rose shrieked loudly and took a jump forward. She cursed under her breath as she managed to take off her shoes and socks and roll the bottom of her jeans up despite her wavering. She glared at him with a frown and pointed an accusing finger at him.

 

“That wasn’t nice,” she scowled, squeezing her socks. “You could have warned me this water was cold.”

 

The Doctor bit his inner cheek to hide a smile and faked a small jump over what he supposed she imagined to be a river. He knew he shouldn’t be enjoying this but he found it incredible that this drug could induce such powerful hallucinations. He had already experienced the influence of this fruit – for science – and the result had been disappointing. He’d been light-headed and bubblier than usual for half an hour and then everything had gone back to normal. But what Rose was experiencing seemed almost supernatural. She saw and felt thing that weren’t there, and the Doctor was sure he still hadn’t seen it all. Rose had such a powerful imagination, she had seen so many things she had thought to be impossible before she met him, she was bound to put his capacity to conceal his laughter to the test. Oh, he’d never dare to make fun of his beautiful Rose. All of this reminded her of how innocent, how fragile and how sweet she could be. It made him love her even more.

 

“I’m sorry, love, I’ll try to be more careful,” he apologized as he helped her steady herself.

“Yes, well, just be thankful the weather is nice enough,” she shrugged, burying her socks in her pockets. “And for the love of God, pull up those swimming trunks, I can almost see your package.”

 

Flabbergasted, the Doctor felt compelled to look down even though he knew he had his usual suit trousers on. Still, he humored her and tugged on his belt a little until she gave an appreciative nod. He had no idea where these hallucinations came from – especially since she had never actually seen him in swimming trunks – but he guessed she must have been craving for a day out on a beach or a lake. He put that information in a corner of his head and placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her through the door to their shared bedroom. He couldn’t wait to see what she would come up with when she would step into the room and already pinched his lips in case he’d be tempted to laugh again.

He watched with rapt attention as she took a few shy steps into the bedroom and came to a stop as she brought her hands to her mouth.

 

“Are those,” she started in a whisper, paying extra attention to where her feet landed, “those things you showed me in your book?”

 

The Doctor settled behind her and he rummaged through his memories for a moment until he found what he was looking for. The Buulgons. They were tiny monkey-like creatures with big green eyes, disproportioned round ears and a long tail that ended with a bright red feather. She had loved them at first sight, claiming that no other animals in the whole universe could look that cute. He had promised he would have taken her to see them, but never got the chance. Well, at least those seemed real enough for her.

 

“Don’t scare them,” she chastised when he took a few steps inside the room.

“Can’t scare them,” he smiled, waving his arms about. “No predators here, they don’t know fear.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to treat it like that,” she said as she gave him a gentle slap on his arm. “Come here, you little beauty.”

 

The Doctor shivered when she brushed her fingers against his sideburn as she reached for something on his shoulder. She looked fascinated by what she held in the crook of her palms and her thumb caressed thin air. Another smile tugged at corner of his lips when he noticed how careful she was with the imaginary creature. It was weird to see her giggle at her own hands, standing in the middle of their room in a dim light. If she remembered any of this when she woke up, she would probably kick his butt – however sexy she found it to be –  for keeping hallucinogenic fruits in the fridge.

 

“Thank you so much, Doctor,” she said softly. “I thought you’d forgotten how much I wanted to see them.”

 

His smile quickly disappeared from his face when a pang of guilt hit him hard in the guts. She seemed so sincerely grateful, it felt like cold rain had poured over his head. This wasn’t fun anymore.

Those words, this simple _thanks_ , made him realize that, maybe, he wasn’t doing enough for her when she always was doing her best. _Didn't get the chance_ , how lame could an excuse be? He was a bloody Time Lord, of course he could have gotten the chance to take her see the Buulgons. He always made promises he didn’t keep and she never said anything about it, never complained, not once.

It wasn’t like she was asking for the impossible. Taking a few hours off on a planet to see little monkeys, how hard could that be? He should have taken her the moment she’d expressed the desire to do it. He should have taken her to the beach if she so wished. He should have protected her more, defended her more, no matter how little the threat.

He realized those weren’t simple hallucinations. They were the expression of the deepest desires she kept hidden from him not to hurt his feelings. Everything she had ever wished for since she’d been with him was happening in the solitude of her mind and there was nothing he could do about it. He should have been there for such moments, lived them completely and shared all this precious time with the woman he loved. And there he was, useless, unable to take part in what should have been some of their best memories.

He swallowed the ball that was steadily growing in his throat and took her hand when it dropped on her side. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes when she looked at him with a glint of affection and love, and he looked away as she kissed his cheek.

 

“Weren’t we going to bed?” he said nonchalantly.

“Well, here it is, isn’t it?” she smiled brightly, pointing at their actual bed. “Sleeping under the stars. I’ve always wanted to do that. Most romantic thing to do _ever_.”

 

A sob would have escaped his lips if it weren’t for the clear trepidation she felt at the simple idea of sleeping outside. He pretended not to hear when she complimented him for his thoughtfulness – he had apparently managed to bring a comfortable mat and a bunch of cushions and covers – and joined her on the bed, unable to gather the courage necessary to take off his clothes. She immediately snuggled to his side and rested her head on his shoulder.

 

“It’s a bit chilly out there, isn’t it?” she said between chattering teeth.

 

He picked up a heavy cover at the foot of the bed without a word and carefully threw it over her shivering body.

 

“And… I’m sorry, but could you turn down the music a little?”

 

There was no music to be heard, but the Doctor guessed it was the low rumbling of the Tardis that must have been too loud to her ears, so he silently asked his ship to be quieter for a little while. She kissed his neck gratefully and sighed in contentment. In any other circumstance he would have loved this. Them, being this close under a warm blanket, cuddling, one beautiful Rose clinging to his clothes as if he might disappear. But he was miles away from her. They were both in different worlds at this moment. She was living one of the fantasy he had been unable to fulfill while he was brewing guilt and hate and sorrow in the pit of his stomach.

He had no idea how Rose had resisted the temptation to leave him, go back to Earth, find someone that would be so much worthier than he was. She loved him, he knew that – she had proved it on many occasions and never missed the chance to show it to him. He simply didn’t know why.

If he kept treading on the same path he would lose her, eventually. That was fact. He needed to do better. Be worthy of her beauty, her kindness, her intelligence. Because he loved her more than anything, he was willing to do anything and everything to keep her heart close to his. If there was a single promise he could keep in his long life, it would be this. Do his very best to love Rose Tyler as much as she deserved to be loved.

 

“The stars are beautiful from here,” she whispered, her soft fingers trailing down his neck. “I wish I could go up there.”

“Maybe you can,” he told her softly as he twined his fingers with hers under the blanket.

“Sometimes I dream someone takes me away, you know,” she said, staring up at the dark ceiling of their room. “A beautiful man. He never tells me his name. He just takes me up there and we travel the universe together. There are so many things we do, the both of us.”

“Would you want me to be that man?” he asked in a whisper, brushing his nose against her cheek.

“I’d have to love you more, and I don’t think I can, Doctor,” she smiled sheepishly. “And I’m just happy being with you. What good are stars if you’re not there to watch them with me?”

 

The Doctor swallowed a sob and buried his nose in the crook of her shoulder.

 

“I promise I’ll be a better man for you, Rose,” he mumbled against her soft skin, rolling an arm around her waist.

“You’re already the best, silly,” she giggled as she shifted closer to his chest.

“I assure you I’m not. But I’ll be. When you wake up in the morning, I’ll be.”

 

And with those words, Rose let herself be lulled by his double heartbeat and comforted by the soft kisses he pressed against her skin. She fell asleep under the stars with the man she loved on her side and tiny monkeys scurrying around them.

 

 

When Rose woke up later in the morning with a throbbing headache and images of the weirdest dream she’d ever had flashing before her eyes, the Doctor was there, grinning from ear to ear. And she gave him the brightest of smiles and the sincerest of kisses when he revealed a little Buulgon hidden in the palm of his hands.

 


End file.
